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The battle for the prestigious Golden Shoe is reaching a fever pitch as the current season passes its mid-season juncture.

With a new winner in each of the previous three campaigns, the award remains up for grabs. Manchester City star Erling Haaland was the last Premier League-based forward to win the award back in the 2022-23 season.

The prolific Norwegian striker is once again in the hunt this season, but faces tough competition from Bayern Munich forward Harry Kane and Spanish La Liga phenomenon Kylian Mbappe. With plenty of matches remaining, other players still have an opportunity to enter the fray.

What is the European Golden Shoe Award?

The Golden Boot award was introduced in the 1967-68 by the French newspaper L'Equipe to recognize the highest goalscorer in league matches from a European top-flight league.

Since the 1997-98, the prize has been overseen by European Sports Media, which implemented a weighted points system. Under this format, a player's goals are multiplied by a designated multiplier based on the strength ranking of their domestic competition.

Goals scored in the continent's five major leagues—the Premier League, Spanish La Liga, German Bundesliga, Italian Serie A, and Ligue 1—are valued at two points apiece.

For competitions ranked sixth to 22nd in UEFA list, such as the Portuguese league, goals are worth 1.5 points. Goals in lower-ranked European leagues are worth one point.

While the honor has been shared on multiple instances in the past, a rule change from the 2019-20 dictates that in the event of a tie, the award goes to the player with the fewest minutes played.

If the deadlock remains, the subsequent deciding factor is the number of assists, followed by the fewest goals from the penalty spot. Only if these tiebreakers are used would the award be split.

Identifying the Primary Contenders?

As it stands, a three-way race is underway for the current season's Golden Shoe, with the trio of most recent winners separated by just a single goal.

• Harry Kane (England captain) leads with 19 goals (38 points) from 15 Bundesliga games.
• Erling Haaland also has 19 goals (38 points) from 17 Premier League outings.
• Kylian Mbappe sits one back on 18 goals (36 points) in 18 La Liga games.

In fourth place is RFS striker Darko Lemajic of Latvia's club RFS, who has netted 28 goals (28 points) across the club's 36 league games in 2025.

Dutch side Feyenoord forward Ayase Ueda is joint-fifth with 18 goals (27 points) from 17 Eredivisie matches this term.

The rest of the top 10 is made up of players from leagues that operate on a January-to-December schedule.

Reviewing Past Recipients

Throughout its nearly six-decade existence, the Golden Shoe has been awarded to some of football's biggest stars.

Portuguese icon Eusébio claimed the first-ever trophy in 1968, scoring 42 goals for Benfica. He then won the award for a second time in the 1972-73 season.

Argentine legend Lionel Messi has won the most Golden Shoes, collecting the honor on six separate times during his 17-year tenure at Barcelona.

Messi established the record for most goals in a campaign with 50 in 2011-12 (100 points). He also became the only player to ever to win it in three consecutive seasons from 2016-17 to 2018-19.

Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo claimed his first award in the 2007-08 season with Man Utd before going on to win it on three further occasions with Real Madrid.

The first player to win the award while at an club in England was Liverpool's Ian Rush in 1983-84, when he netted thirty-two goals for Liverpool.

The prize has seen a different winner in every one of the last three seasons.

Erling Haaland scooped the award for the first time in 2022-23, scoring a Premier League record thirty-six goals (72 points). Harry Kane earned his maiden Golden Shoe with the same total for Bayern Munich the following year.

Kylian Mbappe is the reigning holder of the award after scoring thirty-one goals (62 points) for Real Madrid in 2024-25.

Now, the same trio are competing at the top of the leaderboard once more this season, with Kane presently out in front the pack.